2nd Saturday Art & Museum Events

2nd Saturdays in Escondido are uniquely creative days comprised of many different events!

With over fifteen things to do, these events include the wonderfully eclectic art galleries of Escondido’s historic downtown and as well as interactive arts, theatre, museums and historical and educational experiences.

All around the area… all throughout the day... for all ages!
Bring the kids, enjoy a date night, or a friends afternoon out… there’s something for everyone!

Click HERE for a list of more 2nd Saturday participants, a map and additional information.

Event Details

Queen Califia's Magical Circle is open to the public weekly, with free entrance. Kids of ALL ages love this park... bring your family, friends, imaginations and cameras! Docents will be

Event Details

Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is open to the public weekly, with free entrance. Kids of ALL ages love this park… bring your family, friends, imaginations and cameras! Docents will be on hand for questions on 2nd Saturday dates, weather permitting*.

Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is the only American sculpture garden and the last major international project created by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002). Inspired by California’s mythic, historic, and cultural roots, the garden consists of nine large-scale sculptures, a circular “snake wall” and maze entryway, sculpturally integrated bench seating and native shrubs and trees planted within the interior plaza and along the outer perimeter. The garden bears the brilliant, unique mosaic ornamentation that is an unmistakable part of de Saint Phalle’s later work.

Click on image to download PDF of map

Open Hours (non-holiday) and Other Info:Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00am to Noon2nd and 4th Saturdays, 9:00am to 2:00pmFree entrance. Weather permitting*.
For more info, please call 760-839-4000.(Hours subject to change and the site will be closed on major holidays.)*After a recent rain or heavy fog/moisture, there is chance that the sculpture garden will be closed, due to safety issues, usually 24-48 hours after a rain event, while it dries.

About Queen Califia’s Magical Circle:
The City of Escondido has completed Phase I of its repairs of Queen Califia’s Magical Circle in Kit Carson Park and has reopened the internationally famous sculpture garden to the public on a limited basis.

Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is the only American sculpture garden and the last major international project created by Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002). Inspired by California’s mythic, historic and cultural roots, the garden consists of nine large-scale sculptures, a circular “snake wall” and maze entryway, sculptural integrated bench seating, and native shrubs and trees planted within the interior plaza and along the outer perimeter. The garden bears the brilliant, unique mosaic ornamentation that is an unmistakable part of Saint Phalle’s later work.

Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is situated within a 12-acre natural habitat in the Iris Sankey Arboretum in Kit Carson Park on a parcel of land donated by the City of Escondido. The park’s entrance is located five minutes from I-15 (Via Rancho Parkway Exit) at the corner of Bear Valley Parkway and Mary Lane.

The sculpture garden’s key architectural features are an undulating circular wall measuring 400 feet in length (with varying heights from 4 to 9 feet) that surrounds the garden. Monumental playful serpents, decorated in colorfully patterned mosaics, slither along the top of the wall, their curved bodies forming a pattern of solids and voids that allows visitors to see landscape vistas beyond the garden. The “snake wall” opens into a maze whose walls and floors are covered with black, white, and mirrored tiles. Once through the maze, visitors enter into the central courtyard.

There are nine freestanding sculptures in the garden. The imposing mosaic sculpture of Queen Califia standing on the back of a five-legged eagle commands the center of the garden. Eight large totemic sculptures surround Queen Califia. They are covered with symbols and forms freely drawn from Native American, Pre-Columbian, and Mexican art as well as the artist’s own fantastic imagery.

*The exhibit will not open during rain and inclement weather. The Garden will be open to the public Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 12-noon and on the Second and Fourth Saturdays of each month, from 9am to 2pm, weather permitting*. Docents will be available to answer questions during open hours. The exhibit will be closed on holidays. The exhibit will be closed for bad weather (rain, or imminent threat of rain) until the sculpture is thoroughly dry (this may take a day or so). After a rain event, the sculpture garden may be closed for 24-48 hours to allow the area to dry. The tiles can be very slippery when wet.

Event Details

This unique museum is great fun and educational for all ages!
Explore the San Diego Archaeological Center's redesigned exhibit hall, featuring five new installations. Visitors can access exclusive content, including audio

Event Details

This unique museum is great fun and educational for all ages!
Explore the San Diego Archaeological Center’s redesigned exhibit hall, featuring five new installations. Visitors can access exclusive content, including audio tours and video demonstrations, on the Center’s new museum app.

The San Diego Archaeological Center is a curation facility and museum where visitors can learn the story of how people have lived in San Diego County for the past 10,000 years. The museum, which is located in the picturesque San Pasqual Valley in Escondido, is one mile east of the San Diego Safari Park.

In addition to its role as a museum, the Center serves as an education and research facility, with programs for K-12 through adult, and is the only local organization dedicated to the collection, study, curation and exhibition of San Diego County’s archaeological artifacts.

This event is part of Escondido’s 2nd Saturday Arts & Culture Experiences

This uniquely creative day, comprised of many different events, includes the wondrously eclectic art galleries of Escondido’s historic downtown and as well as interactive arts, theatre, museums and historical and educational experiences all around the area… all throughout the day… for all ages. Bring the kids, enjoy a date night, or a friends afternoon out… there’s something for everyone!

Event Details

2nd Saturday art lessons are always free, with materials provided. Just bring your creativity! Kids are welcome. We do arts and crafts using all types of media including paint and

Event Details

2nd Saturday art lessons are always free, with materials provided. Just bring your creativity! Kids are welcome. We do arts and crafts using all types of media including paint and paper. For specific theme information, see the link below.

Lessons are held at 10am and 11:15am and are an hour long, and this month’s lesson will be held in Studio One, right next door to our usual Studio 2 location.

RSVPs are recommended to ensure that we provide enough materials for you to create your work of art. If you are unable to RSVP, please still attend! We encourage arriving a few minutes early to secure a seat.

Event Details

The San Diego Archaeological Center announces A 100-Year History of San Diego’s “Impossible Railroad,” a presentation and book signing by Reena Deutsch on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at 11:00 AM, as part of their Second Saturday Series. The event will be held at the San Diego Archaeological Center located at 16666 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92027. Admission is free and open to the public. Please register at https://sandiegoarchaeology.org/2nd-sat-the-impossible-railroad/

In the early 1900s, San Diego was a growing and thriving city, but with no rail transportation eastward. Spearheaded by John D. Spreckels, with his persistence and money, a railroad was constructed that engineers warned would be impossible to build. Starting in San Diego, the “Impossible Railroad” snaked through brutal mountain and desert terrain to connect with the transcontinental Southern Pacific in El Centro. It took 12 challenging years to build, but the 1919 completion was widely celebrated. This November is the 100th anniversary of the completion of the San Diego & Arizona Railway which still operates along parts of its 148-mile route. Author Reena Deutsch will give an account of the line’s dramatic history through vintage photos and gripping narration. She will be available after the presentation to sign copies of her book, San Diego and Arizona Railway: The Impossible Railroad.

After stumbling upon old railroad tracks in our local desert, Dr. Deutsch researched the colorful history of John Spreckels’ San Diego & Arizona (Eastern) Railway and has given dozens of lectures and wrote a book on it. Prior to retirement, Dr. Deutsch was a UCSD medical researcher. She currently serves as Board member for the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association and Balboa Park’s San Diego Model Railroad Museum. This year, she is collaborating with the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the completion of the SD&A.

The mission of the San Diego Archaeological Center is to preserve archaeological collections and promote their educational, scientific, and cultural use to benefit a diverse public.https://www.sandiegoarchaeology.org/

Event Details

About the artist:James Stone is an Ocean Conservation Mixed Media Sculpture Artist, working full-time out of his environmentally conscious, hot glass studio, in Escondido, Calif.

James creates sea creatures and marine-themed sculptures that portray the beauty of the ocean’s diverse flora and fauna. His message of eco-awareness leaps from the forged aluminum and sculpted glass pieces, serving as a warning that fish and other sea life are disappearing at historically unprecedented rates due to over-fishing and environmental change. James hopes his work creates a dialogue.

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday through Saturday 11am to 6pm
(760) 294-7447

This event is part of Escondido’s 2nd Saturday Arts & Culture Experiences

This uniquely creative day, comprised of many different events, includes the wondrously eclectic art galleries of Escondido’s historic downtown and as well as interactive arts, theatre, museums and historical and educational experiences all around the area… all throughout the day… for all ages. Bring the kids, enjoy a date night, or a friends afternoon out… there’s something for everyone!

Event Details

Catch the artists in their creative process during Escondido’s 2nd Saturday Art & Culture and watch as their paintings develop. Always an engaging experience.
On Saturday, April 13, ART

Event Details

Catch the artists in their creative process during Escondido’s 2nd Saturday Art & Culture and watch as their paintings develop. Always an engaging experience.

On Saturday, April 13, ART 120 GRAND will be showcasing the creative artistry of contemporary jeweler, Carolyn Thom. Her work will be on display from 11am thru 8pm. One day only!

2nd Saturdays5:30-8:00 PM

ART 120 GRAND
120 West Grand Avenue
Escondido, CA

Art 120 Grand is a vibrant contemporary Fine Art gallery, studio and learning center in the heart of Downtown Escondido. A relaxed, welcoming atmosphere invites the visitor to comfortably meander through and engage in the works of art on display by established and collectable San Diego artists Sharon Feingold and Susan Avery Clark.

This event is part of Escondido’s 2nd Saturday Arts & Culture Experiences

This uniquely creative day, comprised of many different events, includes the wondrously eclectic art galleries of Escondido’s historic downtown and as well as interactive arts, theatre, museums and historical and educational experiences all around the area… all throughout the day… for all ages. Bring the kids, enjoy a date night, or a friends afternoon out… there’s something for everyone!